updated 02:00 pm EDT, Wed October 6, 2010

Netflix agrees 28-day Sony delay for more streams

Netflix today landed a deal with Sony to get further access to streaming video in return for a DVD delay. The exchange follows a similar pattern to earlier agreements and will see Netflix delay DVD and Blu-ray availability during the 28-day "window" in return for deeper access to Sony's catalog for the Watch Instantly feature. The plan also lowers the fees Netflix has to pay for its access.

The company already has a slew of similar deals that have included Fox and Universal as well as previous-season NBC TV shows. It has been willing to make a calculated exchange to gradually wean itself away from physical service towards its ultimate goal of being an Internet-first service.

Netflix has been expanding rapidly and just recently moved beyond the US to launch on a streaming-only business in Canada. It also now has near ubiquity on devices and plays on all iOS devices as well as many Blu-ray players and TVs.

Netflix's Sony move

IMHO: Not so good.

It used to be that if you put a soon-to-be-released movie on your Netflix Queue, you'd have it on release day or sometimes a day earlier. That was a big draw for ppl I know. It was almost as great as having PPV service (in terms of release date) at a much lower cost.

Now there's at least one studio that has twisted Netflix's collective arm into loosing this part of the service. Oh well.